Bush's Two Chilliest Words Yet: "So What?"
Into yesterday's daily meat grinder of news went a little bit of everything, the Madoff debacle, the shoes tossed at Bush, Caroline Kennedy's political aspirations, the already by now daily dump on Obama & Co., the Iago Blago, and what a recipe it was. But, hello? Seemingly lost in the proverbial shuffle but for Keith and Rachel, the two worthiest guardians at the gates of our collective consciouseness, what knocked the very wind out of me, were just two little words petulantly uttered by Bush to the ever-formidable Martha Raddatz in this lame duck's lamest, latest cheesy attempt at anthropomorphism: "So what?" said the man in charge of the free world, when asked about whether or not Al-Qaeda was in Iraq before we were. So what? Huh? Were chillier, crueler, more cavalier words ever spoken? Somehow, this seems to be lost in the news today but my brain refuses to flush it. Perhaps because my blood is still boiling.
It seems to me that with those two extraordinary, positively barbaric words, we finally got to see the true Bush, without artifice, without the smug, sneering frozen mask of pre-prepared, freeze-dried answers to questions, which he always seemed so infuriated at having to answer.
Indeed, he is the very epitome of a So What President. So what if the Katrina victims rot? So what if the world hates us? So what if our actions resonate everywhere with dire, catastrophic consequences? So what if people are starving and have no health care in one of the richest nations in the world? And so what if we leaped into an unnecessary war with manipulated "evidence," in which thousands have perished, utterly pointlessly? After all, we are not permitted to see the caskets anyway, right? And so what if the veterans come home to outrageously disgraceful medical care as well as, at best, precarious financial circumstances? There is no end to the list and no end to the "So whats," because this is a person who checked out years ago, if indeed he ever checked in at all. The difference now is that with only 35 interminably long days left to this hideous sham, he no longer has to even attempt to try to seem concerned, involved, present. Heckuva job, Georgie.
And I am left to wonder for all 35 of them, and surely way, way beyond, how this imposter can possibly be headed off, untroubled, unfettered, into the sunset, bound for a cushy life in Dallas, instead of a brutal trial in The Hague. I mean, is anyone accountable here? Responsible? Officially culpable?
Or will history's inevitable response to all this be just more of the same?
Will it also whisper: "So what?"
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I'm don't know how well Obama will do. But I try to look at his psychology, as I have over the last eight years at George Bush's psychology, and I sure feel a lot more comfortable with the prospect of Obama sitting in the Chair of Power.
The Bushies all seem to be on the same page. Consistency is their only virtue. Perhaps this simple phrase will be carved over the entrance to the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
This has been smug boys mantra from the very beginning. He made his friends and family richer, and then cut their taxes. And everything else that's happened over the past 8 years? So what. Score one for the rich folks!
Please include the video clip of the famous "So What?" with this article.
The video clip is available here if you click on the "related news on Huffington Post" link directly below the article.
This Administration has been an unmitigated disaster. The long list of things that have gone awry, from the buildup to the Iraq War to the firing of the Nine U.S. Attorneys, from the Hurricane Katrina failures to the daily eviscerations of our Constitution are almost too painful to stomach.
Makes you want to pretend that none of it ever happened. We should be so lucky ... "So what?" Really, Mr. President, how could you?
I always wondered when he said we will get whoever harbors terrorists. It seems to me we were harboring, or at least renting rooms and providing college educations to the people who brought down the world trade centers. Probably every country in the world is harboring religious terrorists.
He is so cavalier and dishonest about it all. That's what makes us all so crazy. They are facile actors and mind manipulators, I'll give them that.
They still think building the empire....
Yeah, the Copley Plaza in Boston! That's where the Boston terrorists stayed the night before they headed for the airport. We gave them visas, taught them to fly planes, and even renewed one of their visas post-humously after 9/11! I always thought it was more like aiding and abetting rather than mere harbouring.
I have ALSO never been able to figure out why the shrub became an instant hero for a mistake of this magnitude. It's almost never listed on his list of screw-ups, although it's obviously his biggest. Can you say "asleep at the wheel"? Any head of a major corporation would have lost his job immediately if something this big happened on their watch. Instead, Bush became the symbol of safety for the soccer moms and virtually got re-elected because he didn't do it TWICE!
It's outrageous really, boggles the mind.
Really? Any head of a major corporation would have lost his job? Have you been reading the paper lately? There is a major epidemic of incompetence in this country in all aspects of our society.
Now I have Pink's song running through my head: " So, So what, I am the President and I don't need you and guess what you're going to jail cuz I'm the President.
"So what"..... chilling words from a man who does not seem to be aware of the madness of the last eight years... the young men and women who have died and the poor unfortunates who are coming back from the war with catastrophic injuries and his answer is "so what".
I think he was just repeating the Republic Platform this election.
President Bush: Another Child was just Left Behind by your vaunted educational reform program you never bothered to fund properly. What do you have to say about that?
"__ ____!"
There's no such thing as enough money and the department has gotten more money during the Bush years than any Pres before him...
Carter created the department of Education and it's completely worthless.
Wake-up you're pretty much wrong on all counts.
The Department of Education has existed, with various names, since 1867. It was separated out from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1980, but it existed for over a hundred years before that.
Yes, if you look at numbers out of context, the budget has gone up through the Bush admin. But it's ridiculously low and doesn't match inflation (in fact, by one way to compute the relative value, it's at the same level it was in 1980).
NCLB was initially drafted and agreed upon with specific funding promises to support schools -- Bush cut all of the funding. In 2008, less than $14 million bucks were appropriated for education. Compare that to the $10 billion a MONTH being spent in Iraq.
And vouchers? You've GOT to be kidding!
Don't know where to begin with the - 'if only W was never born the world would be a better place' sort of stuff. This is all so ridiculous
Let's all stop putting faith in politics..
The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.
-Thomas Jefferson
And I add website news, I think Tom would approve...
Regarding the 'never been born' statement, fair enough. It's pretty pointless to play 'what if' or 'if only'. The reality is that G.W. was born and has defiled the constitution, bankrupted a nation, caused the neeless deaths of countless women, children, and soldiers, has made enemies of allies, etc. ad nauseum.
So, can you blame a beleaguered nation that has heard the positive message that Obama has brought and we now pin our hopes on his counsel. Certainly, he is not perfect, but he brings energy and hope where there hasn't been any for the past 8 years.
You say he has lied to us? Ok, I'll bite...wha
Unless you can come up with something stellar, Obama has my faith and support.
ckt: I wish to second your reply. I've been saying for a long time
now that Mr. Obama is our only, and probably last, hope.
The lie - "...my office had no contact...
Bush defiled the constituti
Here's one ckt ~ April 04, 2004 (from the White House's own site) "Now by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires - a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constituti
What a joke! He had been wiretapping without warrants since shortly after 9/11.
"..he's been caught lying to the American people.."
Oh? Do tell.
This is the THIRD usage of the "So what?" response from the GW Bush administration.
The first was from Colin Powell when confronted by reporters after his speech to the UN about the threat to America from Iraq. They said "But you presented nothing new. These claims are ten years old." He said "So what?"
Then there was Dick Cheney saying "So what?" if the American people don't approve of what has been done in Iraq.
And now W.
THE WORLD STILL WATCHES AND CRIES
IF WE WANT TO BE A SUPERPOWER AGAIN>>THAT IS WHERE WE LEAD AND OTHER COUNTRIES FOLLOW AND AID US>>WE MUST BRING CHENEY TO JUSTICE AS WELL AS BUSH>>>
THESE MEN LIED AND TORTURED FOLKS FOR THEIR NEFARIOUS PURPOSES IN THE NAME OF FIGHTING TERRORISM (SOME PROTECTION)
THESE MEN CRIMES CANT GO UNPUNISHED IF THEY ARE ALL DEMOCRACY IS LOST AND WE CAN NOT PREACHED TO OTHER RUTHLESS DICTATORS ABOUT THEIR BEHAVIOR>>
THE ECONOMIC CRISIS STARTED IN USA AS A RESULT OF BUSH EVISCERATING THE REGULATORY AGENCIES AND TURNING A BLIND EYE TO ALL THE NEFARIOUS DEEDS OUR BANKS WERE DOING>> WHERE DOES BUSH PAY FOR ALL THE HAVOC HE HAS CAUSED ALL OVER THE WORLD??? WHERE????WHEN???
SOME OTHER IMPERIAL PRESIDENT WILL TAKE A PAGE FROM BUSH "SCREW AMERICA "PLAYBOOK AND WORK HARDER ON THE THINGS BUSH DIDNT FINISH DOING>>
CHENY HAS TO PAY FOR THIS TORTURE>>WE MUST DO THE RIGHT THING>>IMPEACH NANCY PELOSI FOR NOT FULFILLING HER DUTIES OF PROTECTING AMERICA FROM FOES EXTERNALLY AS WELL AS INTERNALLY>>
PELOSI SAYS TO IMPEACH BUSH WOULD DIVIDE THE COUNTRY>>WHICH DIVISION DOES SHE CARE ABOUT?? THE ONES WHO FOLLOWED BUSH OR THE ONES WHO KNOW TORTURE IS NOT THE AMERICAN WAY??
THE WORLD WAITS AND WATCHES FOR JUSTICE FROM AMERICA (IS IT COMING???)
seedyrum, You are absolutely right! This administration must be held accountable for their crimes! Are we a country who believes in the rule of law or not? Are these people above the law? What a bad precedent we would establish by allowing these unlawful acts to go unpunished. Prosecuting the crimes committed by our government leaders is the first step in our national healing. Doing so would be the start of regaining the moral values we once stood for.
Please take your caps off.
It is tough on the eyes and readers will just pass it by rather than try to read it.
Thanks for stating exactly what I have known for the last 8 years.
He does not give a sh-t.
My outrage muscles are exhausted. I read those two words yesterday and just shrunk down a little more under the weight of it all. So what if Bush said "so what?" It's more of the same by now.
We're all like the proverbial frog in the boiling water at this point.
Except for the dopes in denial. At least some of us wanna jump out.
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